What is "wearing the horn"?

Subject: What is "wearing the horn"?
From: Ian HP
Date: 14 Sep 98 - 05:05 PM

In some trad. songs about marital unfaithfulness, the guilty partner is made to "wear the horn". What does this mean?

Subject: RE: What is
From: Bruce O.
Date: 14 Sep 98 - 05:13 PM

Symbolizes the man is a cuckold.

Subject: RE: What is
From: Lee T
Date: 14 Sep 98 - 05:14 PM

Wearing the horn is something about the cuckold's horn - being cuckolded is being double timed.

Subject: RE: What is
From:
Date: 14 Sep 98 - 08:23 PM

My dictionary has the following "From the French Said to be in allusion to the birds habbit it of laying its eggs in the nests of other birds. A man who's wife has commited adultery. To make a cuckold of."

Allan S.

Subject: RE: What is
From:
Date: 14 Sep 98 - 08:44 PM

There are such references in Shakespeare. I think the reference is in the plural, as in "horns". I have seen cuckolds so depicted in old prints, but the horns are deer-like rather than bull-like. IIRC, there is also an insult done with the fingers which signifies that the man you are insulting wears the cuckold's horns.

Which brings us of course to the dance mention in Pepys as being well danced by Charles II, "Cuckolds All Awry", which His Majesty apparently particulary liked and called the old dance of England. (No wonder, as he put the cuckold's horns on more than one of his subjects.) Supposedly it is properly "Cuckolds All In A Row" and Pepys misheard the name, but I like Pepys's title better.:) It is in The Compleat Dancing Master, I am informed. I don't think I have ever heard it although allegedly it also goes by other names, with words. I think there was a thread on this some time back, when I made an enquiry.

Subject: RE: What is
From: Ian HP
Date: 15 Sep 98 - 10:20 AM

Thanks for contributions, folks. So the horns were like antlers rather than bull horns. And would the cuckold be put on public show, such as they would on the cutty stool, or was this more of a domestic matter?

Tim, do you have access to software to play ABC tunes? If so, say here and I'll post the tune to Cuckolds All Awry in ABC format on this thread. Thanks.

Subject: RE: What is
From: Alice
Date: 15 Sep 98 - 10:27 AM

Ian, they can be also bull horns, not antlers. Take note of the lyrics to "Coplas"...(Mexican folk song)

La mujer que quiere a dos (the woman who loves two men)
Los quiere como hermanitos. (Loves them like brothers)
Al uno le pone cuernos (She puts big horns on one)
Y al otro lo pitoncitos. (And budding horns on the other.)

alice

Subject: RE: What is
From: Bruce O.
Date: 15 Sep 98 - 11:37 AM

An ABC of the tune "Cuckolds All A-row" is B059 on my website. The ballad is ZN3232 in my broadisde ballad index.

Subject: RE: What is
From: Bruce O.
Date: 15 Sep 98 - 11:55 AM

Whoops, that should be B095 on my website for the ABC of the tune. Besides the source listed at ZN3232 for the song in my broadsided ballad index, there's c copy of the song in 'Pills to Purge Melancholy' IV, p. 77, 1719.

There are many other 17th century ballads on cuckolds, just search for 'cuckold' in my broadside ballad index.

www.erols.com/olsonw

Subject: RE: What is
From: Jerry Friedman
Date: 15 Sep 98 - 01:35 PM

Ian, there was no punishment for cuckoldry--the cuckold was more of a victim than a criminal. And the horns were only imaginary, a figure of speech.

Subject: RE: What is
From: Alice
Date: 15 Sep 98 - 02:45 PM

Ian, Jerry is correct. Don't take this too literally, in spite of the artist's depictions that Tim referred to. This is a euphemism for a man who's wife is adulterous, and is just a figure of speech. The cultural context would infer different types of animal horns (or antlers) just as a symbol.

Subject: RE: What is
From:
Date: 16 Sep 98 - 06:24 AM

Perhaps in Shakespeare's time there wasn't a big distinction between antlers and horns -- ex. harts horn, when we would say a hart has antlers, not horns. But the pictures I have seen show deer-like antlers.

By all means, post the ABC. I can get it to work through Alan's ABC program. I haven't had much success in getting ABC's from other sources to convert to midi through it, but that is undoubtedly due to my own technological ineptitude.

Subject: RE: What is
From: Ferrara
Date: 16 Sep 98 - 08:36 AM

When I saw the title of this thread, I thought it was a reference to the first lines of "Hal-An-Toe,"

Jake has gone to wear the horn,
It was the crown when you were born,
Your father's father wore it then,
His father wore it too.

Here they really mean "wear the horn," not "wear horns." It's a reference to putting a headdress of antlers on a man's head to signify he is king of either the spring or midsummer festivities, I think. Anyway one or more the of very old seasonal rituals. The reference is to the old pagan horned god, one of the pre-Christian symbols that are still embedded in a lot of British folk customs.

Wearing horns, as discussed above, is something entirely different. In Italy they call a cuckold a "cornuto" or "horned man." Bull horns not antlers. Symbol (a fighting insult) is hand raised with index and little fingers up, the rest down, thumb curled across the two fingers that are down.

Subject: Lyr Add: CUCKOLDS ALL A-ROW
From: Bruce O.
Date: 16 Sep 98 - 10:42 AM

CUCKOLDS ALL [A-ROW]

Not long ago as all alone I lay upon my Bed,
'Twixt sleeping and waking, this Maggot came in my Head,
Which caus'd me in the Mind to be, the meaning for to know,
With Skill and Wit, and then I writ of Cuckolds all a-row.

Methought I heard a Man and Wife, as they together lay,
Being quite void of strife, she thus to him did say,
Quoth she, Sweet-heart, if thou wilt Sport, my Love, to thee I'll show
A pretty thing shall make thee sing of Cuckolds all a-row.

Peace Wife, quoth he to her again, I'm sure thou dost but Jest,
Altho' I am Cornuted plain, I am no common Beast;
Yet ev'ry Woman's like to thee, for ought that I do know,
And each Man may be like me, Cuckolds all a-row.

There's neither Lord, or Gentleman, Citizen, or Clown,
That liveth in the City, or the Country Town,
But may carry Horns about them, tho' they never blow,
For Gallants are like other Men, Cuckolds all a-row.

Your Tradesmen in the City, that sell by Weight and Measure,
Perhaps may wear a hornèd Brow, for Profit of for Pleasure,
When they to sell their Wares begin, that make so great a show,
Their Wives may play at In and In, Cuckolds all a-row.

Your Country prating Lawyers that gets the Devil and all,
That Pleads every Term in Westminster Hall,
His Wife in the Country, for aught that he does know,
May let his Client have a Fee, Cuckolds all a-row.

The Parson of the Parish I hope shall not go free,
While he is in his Study, another may be
A-dandling of his Wife, and do the thing you know,
And make him wear his Corner'd Cap, Cuckolds all a-row.

If any one offended be, and think I do him wrong,
For naming of a Cuckold, in this my merry Song,
Let him subscribe his Name, and eke his Dwelling show,
And he and I will soon agree, like Cuckolds all a-row.

An ABC of the tune is B095 on my website (convertible to MIDI with ABCPLAY), and a facsimile from the 1653 edition of 'The Dancing Master' is at:

www.gate.net/~shipbrk/playford/19.html

Subject: Tune Add: CUCKOLDS ALL AROW / CUCKOLDS ALL AWRY
From: Ian HP
Date: 16 Sep 98 - 07:00 PM

Tim, here's the ABC

T:Cuckold's All Awry M:6/8 L:1/8 Q:100 C:Trad K:D e2ee2d|c2de2A|B2B cBc|d6| e2ee2d|c2de2A|B2B cBc|d3d2A| G2G FGF|E2E cBc|d2ABA2|F3DEF|GAG FGF|E2E cBc|d2A BA2|F3D3||

Subject: RE: What is
From: MMario
Date: 17 Sep 98 - 03:24 PM

regarding the line in "Hal-n-toe" "Jake has gone to wear the horn"

when I first learned the song the reference given as an explanation for this line was to being cuckolded, not to the pagan ritual..., though that was mentioned as a possible interpretation

Subject: RE: What is
From:
Date: 17 Sep 98 - 05:49 PM

I copied the ABC into Wordpad and saved it as a Dos Text file, but I can't get Alan's program to convert it to Midi. Is there some trick I am missing? The program seems to hang once I dump the file into it.

Subject: RE: What is
From:
Date: 17 Sep 98 - 05:57 PM

Ah, now I see my stupidity. It doesn't convert ABC's, but converts midi's to a postable form which can be converted back again.

Is there such a thing as a program that can read and convert ABC's?

Subject: RE: What is
From: Ian HP
Date: 17 Sep 98 - 07:51 PM

The ABC homepage tells you all about the programme, as follows . . .

http://www.gre.ac.uk/~c.walshaw/abc/#examples

. . . and here you can download the software http://www.execpc.com/~jimvint/abc/download.html

Hope you're successful

Subject: RE: What is
From:
Date: 19 Sep 98 - 05:25 PM

Thanks for the information, Ian, I will try to get it to work.

Thank you very much for the lyrics, Bruce O. Now when I get the tune I will be all set.

I knew I had some information on this tune squirreled away on my hard disk, and here it is. Never did have a chance to track down the recordings.

The following are entries in the "Fiddler's Companion" (http://stanford.celtic.edu/tunes/fc/)

CUCKOLDS ALL (IN) A ROW. AKA and see "Cuckolds All Awry," "Hey Boys, Up Go We." English, Country Dance Tune (6/4 or 6/8 time). G Major (Raven): C Major (Chappell). Standard. AAB (Chappell): AABB (Raven). The air appears in Playford's "The English Dancing Master" of 1650. It was used as a party tune by the Cavaliers, according to Chappell (1859), who states that they sang the words of "Hey, boys, up go we" and "London's true character" to the tune.

The latter song heaped abuse on the citizens of that town for siding against the King in the civil wars, and began "You coward-hearted citizens..."; it is printed in "Rats rhimed to Death; or, The Rump Parliament hanged in the Shambles" (1660) and in both editions of "Loyal Songs written against the Rump Parliament." "Cuckolds All a Row" is mentioned in the older song "O London in a fine town." Samuel Pepys attended a dance at the court of Charles II, misheard the name of the tune, and made this entry in his diary on the 31st of December, 1662:

Then to country dances; the King leading the first, which he called for; which was, says he, "Cuckolds all awry," the old dance of England. Of the ladies that danced, the Duke of Monmouth's mistress, and my Lady Castlemaine, and a daughter of Sir Harry de Vicke's, were the best. The manner was, when the King dances, all the ladies in the room, and the Queen herself, stand up; and indeed he dances rarely, and much better than the Duke of York. Having stayed there as long as I thought fit, to my infinate content, it being the greatest pleasure I could wish now to see at Court, I went home, leaving them dancing.

Chappell, Vol. 1, 1859; pg. 306. Raven, 1984; pg. 9 and pg. 44. Familiar FAM 47, Pyewackett - "7 to Midnight" (1985). Island Records AN-700, Kirkpatrick & Hutchings - "The Compleat Dancing Master" (1974). North Star NS0031, "Dance Across the Sea: Dances and Airs from the Celtic Highlands" (1990).

HEY, BOYS, UP GO WE [1]. AKA and see "Cuckolds All in a Row." English, Country Dance Tune (6/8 time). G Mixolydian/C Major. Standard. ABB (Karpeles, Raven): AABB (Barnes). The tune dates to 1650. Barnes, 1986. Karpeles, 1951; pg. 13. Raven, 1984; pg. 26.

"Cuckolds all away" was recorded by at least 3 other artists as well as on "The Compleat Dancing Master" by Ashley Hutchings, John Kirkpatrick and friends (1974 Album - Island records HELP 17). They were:

The Broadside Band - "English Country Dances" (Cassette CSDL393 - 1992)

Susan Baker - "Fiddles and Follies" (1980 Album ZK86)

Tarleton's Jig - "For King and Parliament" (1974 Album NMP 1521)

These may all be still available.

Subject: RE: What is
From: harpgirl
Date: 19 Sep 98 - 05:57 PM


Hephastus, so the storie's told
once found himself a wry cuckhold
so to avenge his wife's wild passion
tricked her lover in a clever fashion
while he was tending the smithy fire
Mars was fanning his wife's desire
as they lay entwined on the smithy's bed
they failed to see the net o'er head
it was rigged to fall as the story goes
when the flames of passion curled their toes
Hephastus saved his reputation
and passion is indeed a conflagration...

harpgirl

Subject: RE: What is
From: Bruce O.
Date: 19 Sep 98 - 07:05 PM

"Hey boy, up go we" is the burden of "A Song. To the Tune Cuckolds all a-row" in 'Rump Songs', I, p. 14, 1662. It commences "Know then my Bretheren Heaven is clear" (9 verses of 8 lines).

Subject: RE: What is
From:
Date: 19 Sep 98 - 07:32 PM

Thanks. I got the ABC program to work and I know I have heard this song somewhere before. In my mind I associate it with the lute.

I don't suppose there is anyway to convert these to midis?

Subject: RE: What is
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 19 Sep 98 - 08:13 PM

G'day Tim,
I think if you follow the links given above by Ian HP you'll find ABC2MID and MID2ABC. These seem to work although not perfectly, often getting confused with pickup bars.

You could also try ABCMUS. I think you have to register to properly convert ABC to MIDI.

Cheers,
Alan

Subject: RE: What is
From: Bruce O.
Date: 20 Sep 98 - 12:27 PM

ABCPLAY, available free from the ABC home page, has an option of saving the ABC file that was read in as a MIDI file. I've saved several this way.

Subject: RE: What is
From:
Date: 20 Sep 98 - 05:30 PM

I'll look again. I couldn't find that option. It saved it with an ".abc" ending.

Subject: RE: What is
From: Bruce O.
Date: 20 Sep 98 - 07:09 PM

On the ABCPLAY screen at top left is FILE, and one of the options in it is Save MIDI. It's not where I would 1st or even 2nd look for it.

Subject: RE: What is
From:
Date: 20 Sep 98 - 09:51 PM

YOu must have a different version or a different program. The play portion opens a little DOS window and there is no option to save it. The rest of the program gives only Save As and no option to save as Midi.

Subject: RE: What is
From:
Date: 20 Sep 98 - 10:44 PM

OK, now I see. I was using a differint program of a similar name. I got what I needed and am enjoying myself playing the ABC's from Bruce O's page.

Cuckolds All A-Row, as a title, pales in comparison to Cock Up Thy Beaver, in the same ABC collection on Bruce O's page. One could make up an amusing set of dances, at least by titles, from those ABC's.:) The poet was wrong to assert that sex was invented in 1963.:)

Subject: RE: What is "wearing the horn"?
From: GUEST,Florabunda
Date: 29 Jun 14 - 05:28 PM

In Italian to "fare le corna" or "essere cornuto" Means to be a cuckold.

Making 'the horn' behind a man's head is considered pretty bad - Berlosconi was subject to a couple of such photographs ;)

It means that you are a cuckold. The Italians say it's based on classic myth - King Minos had a white bull that was too beautiful to sacrifice. In retribution Aphrodite made his wife Parsiphae who fell in love with the bull. She had a wooden bull made so that she could mate with it... result: the Minotaur.

Anyway. Making the sign of the horn - fingers pointing downwards stops the evil eye - but as horns. You are a laughing stock. Serie A (football) has a few players that 'helpfully' tell the opposition fans what their team mates have been up to.

Any way - people in south sometimes say that they are born under the horns = they are a love child and proud of it!

Subject: RE: What is "wearing the horn"?
From: doc.tom
Date: 30 Jun 14 - 03:22 PM

Wearing the horns = cuckoldry - yes of course. But we haven't even touched on wearing the horns in the drinking games that involved such rituals and were nothing to do with cuckoldry!